SPED schools in Singapore: the full directory for parents

And the thing we’d say before any table: choosing a SPED school is not a step down. These are national schools built to give more support, and the right question is never “how do I avoid this list?” — it’s “which of these fits my child?” The full list, grouped the way MOE groups it and translated into parent language, is below.

How we actually chose (and what the list doesn’t tell you)

When it was our turn, we did what most parents probably do: we went down the list and shortlisted the schools closest to home. Convenience sounds unromantic, but you’ll be doing the drop-off and pick-up every school day for years — distance is a real criterion, not a lazy one.

Then came the part no list warned us about. We’re Permanent Residents, not citizens — and we were placed on a waitlist. That’s our experience rather than a published rule, but if your family isn’t Singaporean, build waiting time into your plans and ask each school directly where you stand.

And one more thing we learned by doing: don’t judge a school by its website. Some SPED schools maintain theirs well; others haven’t updated in years — the information can be stale and the photos may not match what the campus looks like today. Visit in person, every time you can. After all, your child may spend the next twelve years there.

How SPED schools work (the five-minute version)

All 26 SPED schools are run by social service agencies — organisations like MINDS, APSN, AWWA, Rainbow Centre, and the Autism Resource Centre — and funded by MOE. Under the Compulsory Education Act they are national schools: a child in SPED is fully inside Singapore’s education system, not outside it.

What differs between schools is who they’re built for. MOE groups them by the profiles they serve: autism without intellectual disability, autism with intellectual disability, intellectual disability on its own, multiple disabilities, and sensory impairment. Some teach the national curriculum (PSLE and beyond, with autism-trained support); others teach a customised curriculum centred on communication, daily living, and work skills.

Placement runs through a professional assessment and MOE’s application — not through the school gate. The short version is in “How to apply” below; the assessment route starts at our diagnosis guide.

Autism-dedicated schools (national curriculum)

These five schools — MOE’s “ASD, no intellectual impairment” group — are for autistic children who can access the national curriculum but need smaller classes, structure, and autism-trained staff. School names link to official websites (they open in a new tab), and every school on this page also has a short plain-language note in our SG Autism Dictionary.

Pathlight School pairs the national curriculum with life-readiness skills, for students who can manage mainstream academics with the right scaffolding. It’s also the school most parents have heard of — which means demand, so apply early and hold your shortlist loosely.

St. Andrew’s Mission School and ACS (Academy) are the two newest doors into this group — both take autistic students onto the national curriculum, and both are worth watching precisely because they’re new: fresh capacity in a group that has historically been the hardest to get into.

Schools for autism with intellectual disability

Most of Singapore’s SPED landscape lives here: schools supporting autistic students who also have an intellectual disability, on customised curricula. (MID = mild intellectual disability; MSID = moderate to severe — MOE’s terms.)

Don’t read this table as a ranking — read it as a map. Within this group, schools differ in curriculum emphasis, therapy support, campus, and culture, and that’s exactly what open houses are for (next section).

Multiple disabilities and sensory impairment

For completeness — the remaining three schools:

How to choose: what we’d tell the next parent

• Start with distance, honestly. A decade of daily drop-offs and pick-ups changes a family’s life. Shortlist what’s reachable, then compare.
• Go to the open houses. Some SPED schools hold them, and they’re worth rearranging your calendar for. You’ll see the real infrastructure — not the website photos — and it works both ways: it’s also the school’s window to talk to you and gauge whether your child fits the incoming batch. In our daughter’s case, the school placed her in an intake where the new students shared similar behavioural profiles that the teacher could manage — the kind of thoughtful grouping you’d never learn about from a brochure.
• Ask about life beyond the classroom. Some schools actively run sports and enrichment — a few even have swimming pools with instructors trained to work with special-needs children. If your child lights up in the water or on a field, ask.
• Visit physically, always. Websites go stale; campuses change. Twelve years is too long a stay to book from photos.

For the mainstream-or-SPED question that comes before any of this, MOE’s own position is worth knowing: mainstream primary schools are set up to support some autistic children, and suitability turns on whether a child can access the national curriculum in that environment — a professional assessment question, not a loyalty test. Our full decision guide: mainstream or SPED — how to decide; the assessment route is mapped in the diagnosis guide.

Fees, and where help comes from

For Singapore citizens, SPED school fees are heavily subsidised. MOE’s published figures (2021): the majority of SPED schools charge $14 to $20 a month, three charge around $60–70, and six charge between $120 and $250 — fees differ because programmes are customised to different profiles. Check the current figure with each school.

For lower-income citizen families, SPED FAS goes further than most parents expect: full fee waiver, free textbooks and school attire, school meals, and a public-transport subsidy.

For non-citizens, fees are meaningfully higher and set school by school — MOE points families to each school’s own website. From our own experience as a PR family: speak to the school directly and ask what financial help might be possible. The worst they can say is no, and schools have heard the question before.

How to apply

The full walkthrough, with our own application story, is in how SPED placement works. The short version:

1. Professional assessment first — start ~6 months before the application deadline; you’ll need the assessment report, a medical report, and a teacher’s report from preschool or EIPIC.
2. Apply online via MOE’s form, listing up to 3 SPED schools that support your child’s primary diagnosed condition. Your first-choice school processes the application (the full route is in our MOE SPED application entry).
3. Offer letter within 3–6 months, by post or email. Register within 2 weeks of receiving it. If unsuccessful, the school recommends an alternative based on your child’s needs.

Two residency notes. Citizens and PRs apply through this route — though, as we shared above, our own PR application ended in a waitlist, so plan buffer time. International families don’t use the MOE form at all: approach schools directly about admissions and vacancies.

Deadlines vary school by school — MOE’s admissions-timelines page lists each window.